Panoramic view from the top of the Everest, 24th May - Photo: Mustafa Cihan

Latest News

April 13th, 2006

According to the latest news that we received from the team, everthing is going as planned and they are currently setting up the advanced base camp. Recent daily dispatches and photographs will be available soon.

April 10th, 2006

View from the memorial at the base camp.

Photo: Soner BuyukatalayClick on image to view

April 10th, 2006

Everest Base Camp

Today is our last day at the base camp, tomorrow we’ll leave for the advanced base camp. We’ll stay overnight at a camp inbetween, the next day we’ll arrive at the advanced base camp at 6400 meters. During these days, it might be hard to setup our communication devices, that is our daily news might delay for a few days.

Recently we have new friends at the base camp. For example Pepe, who came by bicycle with two of his friends from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Pepe’s both legs below his news are disabled, it happened twelve years ago at a paragliding accident. However he didn’t quit doing sports, and he continued doing ambitous stuff in mountaineering and bicycling. He won the golden medal in bycycling at the handicapped olympiads in the year 2004. Now he is aiming at climbing Everest. Two friends of Pepe escorted him to the base camp and went back. When they were leaving, they entrusted their friend to us. We’ll try to have him with us as much as we can.

Another friendship that affected us is with three Russian guides. Andrey, the guide who is at the same time a doctor, invited us one evening to their camp. We thought that it would be a short meeting together with the other teams. When we went there we were surprised to see a lavish meal with wine and vodka, only prepared for us. But what excited us the most was meeting with Max and Nikolay. Nikolay is 75 years old and he is an incredibly vigorous and successful mountaineer. He took place in almost all the important climbs since the Soviet times. And Max is an experienced mountaineer and rescuer. He was the head of the search and rescue team that worked after the earthquake in Turkey in 1999. The coincidences are not only those. Max and his team encountered our team at the earthquacke and worked together. We both remembered each other very clearly. When Nikolay’s incredible experiences and stories were added to these exciting coincidences, we spent a night that we won’t forget.

After we chatted with the Russian guides, we were assured about our style of mountaineering once again. Our insistance on team climbing was approved by the experience of long years, that means, going on with working in common and climbing in a team.

April 9th,2006

Everest Base Camp

Today we tested out Gamow Bag which we keep at the camp for safety reasons. The reason we carry this material with us –we plan to take it to the next base camp and to the camp at 7000 meters- is that it provideds us with a fast, reliable and consistent treatment method. At high altitude as the pressure drops the partial pressure of oxygen drops and this may lead to insufficient oxygen intake. The main source of the mentioned problems is this.

This material which is named as the Gamow Bag works with an easy mechanism. Think of an airtight balloon that is as big as one can lie down in it. The person who feels the effects of the altitude is put in it and air is pumped into it with a simple foot pump. After 2 psi pressure is obtained the person is kept there for 2 hours. He or she will begin to breathe as if she were taken to a lower altitude. According to this method a person that is treated at 5100 meters (approximately Ararat mountain summit) is as if he or she is taken down to 3268 meters (approximately Hasan Mountain summit). With the same approach, a person that is at the top of Everest is as if he or she is taken down to 6198 meters.